Posting To Patch: Share Your Story, Event, Job Listing

Every day, Patch editors get dozens of amazing story ideas from readers. We love hearing from readers — and want you to know that you can also post to Patch and share your opinions, community events and announcements.

With that in mind, our team has been working to update our platform to make it easier for readers to post relevant news directly to their hometown Patch news sites.

If you think you have something the community might be interested in knowing about, posting to Patch is for you. Our articles get shared with hundreds and even thousands of readers each day through our daily newsletters and over social media.

We’d like to walk you through how easy it is to post.

HOW TO POST TO PATCH

The first thing you’ll need to do, if you haven’t already, is to sign up to be a Patch user (it’s very quick and easy). You will be prompted to sign up as a business, non-profit organization or as yourself. Keep in mind that if you sign up as a business you will a get free business listing that goes in the local Patch directory.

You will be asked to sign up through Facebook or manually. Keep this in mind: if you sign up via Facebook, you will be able to post automatically, but if you sign up manually, our team will need to verify your account before you get an email OK from us to post. This usually takes about two hours.

Once you are logged in, you will have a couple options for posting.

1) QuickPosts: Head to any Patch home page and you will find the QuickPost prompt at the top of the page (with the prompt, "What's happening near you?"). Click the box to ask a question, share a quick update, let the community know your dog is missing or send a shoutout to the driver in front of you at Starbucks who paid for your coffee. Once you've posted, our editors will get an alert about the post and may share it over Facebook or elsewhere on our website to let more people know!

2) Articles: This option is a great place to post press releases or other relevant information written up by Patch readers. It is free for anyone who has a Patch user account, but can only be posted in one Patch town. Are you a non-profit organzation looking for donations or volunteers? Share your story, your needs and shoot an e-mail to Patch editor Amie Rowland to let her know once it's posted: amie.schaenzer@patch.com. We will do the legwork in making sure it is seen by our robust readership.

3) Events: Our events calendar shows up in the daily newsletters that are sent by email to thousands of readers each day. Posting an event is free if you only post in your home Patch. You do have the option to promote it in up to 16 nearby areas for $1 per day per town.

4) Announcements: Local businesses are the backbone of any community. That's why we started "Announcements," a platform designed to help business owners and sellers reach their neighbors. For $1 a day you can reach communities outside of your town. The paid announcement also appears on the corresponding Patch Facebook pages. The announcement is free if you only post in your home Patch.

5) Jobs: Job postings are free for everyone and can be shared in 11 communities at no cost.

Items posted by readers show up in the “Neighbor Posts” section on Patch and show up in our daily newsletters.

BECOME A PATCH MAYOR

Don’t worry, it’s a lot easier than running for a local election. We are currently recruiting Patch mayors for several towns throughout the Chicago area.

The ideal Patch Mayor is a civic-minded, sociable resident who's plugged into what people in town are saying and doing, likes to write, is active on social media and regularly wants to share the stories of his or her neighborhood or town and guide community conversation. If you love your community, the Patch mayor program might be just the thing for you.

Here are three great reasons to apply to be a Patch Mayor:

• You'll be able to use Patch and our Facebook and Twitter pages to spread the word about charity events, local celebrations, civic issues, weather, high school sports, new restaurants or businesses, and more.
• Spark and guide local conversations as the host of your Patch about what's happening nearby — be it a lost pet or a controversial issue in front of the city council.
• You'll be published on Patch, reaching thousands of your neighbors and people in other nearby cities.

So, if you've ever wanted to blog about your neighborhood or town, this could be your opportunity to do so — with the full support of our editorial team, a state-of-the-art publishing platform, and access to thousands of newsletter subscribers and Facebook fans.

Interested? First, log into your Patch account or create a Patch account and then fill out the brief Patch Mayor application here.

WHERE SHOULD I POST?

We are here to help. We have a lot of options for getting the word out and would love to provide any guidance. Feel free to email me at amie.schaenzer@patch.com and I’ll help walk you through the process.